Multiple bolts of lightning streak to the
ground in this long-exposure shot of a thunderstorm in eastern Henderson
County, Ky. The same storm system ripped through southwestern Indiana,
injuring at least four people and causing extensive damage.

Paws in the hostilities: A Syrian rebel takes a break to pet a... Photo-3268650.54036 - seattlepi.com

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Taboola Gallery Frame Item-85307.54036 - seattlepi.com

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No swimming, no boating, no water:

A dock stands in a cove of
Indiana's Morse Reservoir that is now growing grass instead of
sheltering fish. More than half of U.S. counties now are classified by
the federal government as natural disaster areas mostly because of
drought.

A sand cat kitten, one of four born three weeks
ago, peers out from a cave in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. Due to
habitat destruction, sand cats are extinct in the wild in Israel.

Gritty kitty:

A sand cat kitten, one of four born three weeks ago, peers out from a cave in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. Due to habitat destruction, sand cats are extinct in the wild in Israel.

Photo: Ariel Schalit, Associated Press

Gritty kitty: A sand cat kitten, one of four born three weeks... Photo-3328039.54036 - seattlepi.com

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And that's all the time we have ... thank you, Mr. President!

Iowan
Mike Dufel is either giving President Obama the thumbs-up or signaling
him off the stage during a campaign bus stop in Waterloo.

And that's all the time we have ... thank you, Mr. President!

Iowan Mike Dufel is either giving President Obama the thumbs-up or signaling him off the stage during a campaign bus stop in Waterloo.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Getty/AP

And that's all the time we have ... thank you, Mr. President!... Photo-3332653.54036 - seattlepi.com

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Taboola Gallery Frame Item-85307.54036 - seattlepi.com

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Where do you think you're going?

Japanese coast guard patrol
boats intercept a vessel that dropped off activists on Uotsuri Island,
one of the disputed islands of Senkaku, also known as the Diaoyu islands
to the Chinese. Fourteen Chinese and South Korean activists landed on
the Japanese-controlled island on the anniversary of Japan's World War
II surrender to press their countries' territorial claims.

Noting the deterioration of the 20th-century, Ecce Homo-style
fresco of Christ in a church in Borja, Spain, 80-year-old amateur
artist Celia Gimenez took it upon herself to restore it. Now Twitter
users are dubbing the fresco Ecce Mono - "Behold the Monkey" - instead of "Behold Man."

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik raises
his fist in a facist salute upon arrival at Oslo central court for
sentencing. He got the maximum of at least 21 years for killing 77
people, mostly teenagers, in a bloody rampage at a summer camp last
year.

Despite the considerable skill
involved and the inherent excitement of the matches, the IOC still
refuses to make goat carcass polo an Olympic sport. Do they really think
we would rather watch dressage? (Krgyz riders compete in Bishrek.)

A sport that gets no respect: Despite the considerable skill... Photo-3388322.54036 - seattlepi.com

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Poor Boo Boo:

Firefighters battling the Mustang Fire near Salmon,
Idaho, found the cub alive but seriously injured. He suffered
second-degree burns on all four paws and will need daily medical care
for the next four to six weeks.